the date of his birth, which would make him the son of a nobleman of high rank,
was confirmed by letters patent, bearing date on July 10, 1237, from the Pope
himself. The title of the earl was confirmed in an imperial edict, dated at
Frankfort, November 24, 1240. According to the Florentine historian, the
countess died in childbirth in the following month,and was buried at Rome.The
countess bore two sons: the eldest was born in the prison of the Capitani, in
the church of the Dominican friars at Assisi, where he was a foundling; but the
name of the boy was changed by order of his guardian, to Giovanni, and he
received the name of Bonaventura. His father,who was soon to be liberated, was
an outlaw and a fugitive; but he lived in peace in the land of France, under the
protection of the kings of the house of Valois, and died in peace, at the early
age of thirty-five,leaving the countess in peaceable possession of his estate,
as was the case with many other of the Florentine nobles of that age.[Sidenote:
FLORENCE.]The young Bonaventura was instructed in the law at Bologna, and
afterwards received the degree of Doctor of Civil Law in the university, where
he acquired a considerable reputation. His reputation was heightened by his
knowledge of ancient and modern history, and the "glosses" which he composed on
the lives and actions of the fathers of the church. He was the first person to
establish a distinction between the laws of the people and those of the
_grandi_. He did not belong to the _grandi_, but adopted their customs and their
doctrines. In 1255 he was appointed by the citizens of Florence, by a public
act, a senator, with the title of Rector and perpetual councillor of the city,
and this title continued to the present day. It was not, however, till the reign
of Frederick II. that he was elected, on the 31st of July, 1257, to the
magistracy of the consuls, the office of a senator being then considered
incompatible with the dignity of a citizen. He was then seventeen years of age,
a tall and handsome youth, and distinguished by the noble bearing of his
carriage. The spirit of liberty, which was beginning to animate the citizens of
Florence, might, therefore, have been expected to give some strength to his
character. Accordingly, the seeds of discord were sown in his mind between the
nobles and the people. One of these, named Agostini, who had been condemned to
death for the murder of an abbot, collected a number of armed men, whom he
called the men of the _grandi_, and invaded the territory of the citizens, in
which he was joined by a party of malcontents, whom the magistrates of the
republic had summoned to suppress the disorders of Agostini. This party was
headed by Giovanni Villani, a contemporary chronicler, who thus describes the
origin and the consequences of the quarrel between the nobles and the people."In
the year 1257, as the people were going in procession, to the piazza of the
Palazzo Vecchio, they were attacked and grievously maltreated by Agostini, one
of the followers of Agostini. And the people being called to arms, rescued the
persons of the citizens, and protected them from further outrage. The patrician
Andrea Dandolo, the lord of Florence, coming to their aid, the assailants were
expelled, and Agostini and the two chief of his followers were killed. The
tumults of the people having been appeased, Agostini was put to death, and
several citizens were beheaded and banished. The other nobles were induced to
resign, and it was thought good to abolish the government, and the people were
informed that, henceforth, they were to have a new one, the magistrates being
appointed by the people, and the government in the hands of the more prudent and
virtuous, called the_majori_. This reform did not please the nobles, who were
discontented at the change, and who were envious of the magistracy. Wherefore,
the magnates having assembled at the Palazzo Pubblico, put forward Agostini's
son, Count Guido Novello, and made him count in his father's stead; and the
consuls having assembled, chose the father of Guido Novello, to be_podesta_. In
this manner, for the space of six months, did the nobility continue to exercise
their functions in the government of Florence,governed by the fathers of Guido
Novello, and by the four consuls chosen from among the _majori_. At the end of
that time, the fathers of Guido Novello were elected anew by the people, and
confirmed the constitution of the city. On the death of Guido Novello, his
son,Count Guido Novello, was made _podesta_ by the people, and the election of
the consuls was confirmed by the people. The above is the cause of the
reformation in the government of the city; and the people,considering the injury
which the nobles had received, wished that the same men should be chosen over
them again. The nobles, hearing this, and being alarmed at it, resolved that
they would place the chief magistrate in the palace, and then, with the help of
the nobles, put him to death. The people, perceiving this, decided that they
would have the head of the nobles; and on the same day, the seventh of May,
1252, when the magistrates had been chosen and the elections had been made, they
assembled in the palace, and, by a secret plot, slew the aforesaid count, as he
sat at table. The palace being thus in their hands, they raised Count Guido
Novello to the dignity of _podesta_, and gave the city of Florence to be
governed by the two consuls chosen from the people, until the ensuing November.
The two consuls being dismissed, the city, by the consent of the people,
remained tranquil until the following January, when they expelled Count Guido
Novello, and elected, in his stead, Count Guido Novello,the son of Count Guido
Novello, to be _podesta_. The nobles, being angry at this change, wished that
the government should be vested in the consuls, and thus set up Count Guido
Novello as _podesta_, but the people, having found this change to be for the
best, and the magistrates being detested by the nobility, the latter, having
seen how much they had lost by this change, became discontented, and began to
plot against the consuls, and the popular party, for the purpose of making war
on the nobles, and to deprive the consuls of their authority, in order to create
a new governing power. The public magistrates, having notice of this design,
sent for the twelve consuls, and gave them to understand that they must quit the
city in six days, and obey the orders of the people, and not seek to contravene
the will of the nobles, or to raise tumults. They answered, that they would obey
the people, and observe the orders of the nobles, for that they would take no
part in any plots, conspiracies, or tumults, on which the people might be
engaged. The magistrates, unable to induce them to do this, then sent a second
deputation to the people, with a letter, in which they said that they had
received the command of the people, and they had acted conformably to that
order, and that they would observe the orders of the people, and observe the
decrees of the magistrates, and do no act of violence, nor make any disturbance
on account of them. The people, hearing this, believed that they were obeying
the orders of the people, and consented to follow the magistrates, who, for the
first time, led them to the piazza of the Palazzo Pubblico, where they were
assembled, and declared that they were bound to obey the people, and that, if
they disobeyed, they would oppose force to force, and kill the magistrates, and
would do as they pleased. The magistrates, without reply, followed the direction
of the people,and passed to the palace of the priors, where they were received
with every demonstration of respect, and, the magistrates having, by the advice
of the people, taken upon them the authority of the magistrates, the people
appointed the eight consuls, and the chief men of the city, as their successors,
who were invested with the supreme authority in the state. The magistrates and
the people gave their votes to those consuls, by which they were elected, and
thus the constitution of the city was established, with the consuls, who were
called consuls _pro tempore_, as successors to the priors. This is the origin of
the government of Florence, which is called _la constitution felice_,and the
origin of its government is well known to be, that the people, in those times,
were not without their magistrates, but they, without any law or statute, were
invested with authority, in the name of the people,and these magistrates
possessed power to declare war and make peace,and to declare war against whom
they pleased, and, in a word, to all intents and purposes to do whatever they
pleased, without law or statute,and to execute whatever was decreed by the
people, and to make war and peace as they thought fit. As long as these
magistrates were in power, the city was free and independent, and all the people
were governed in peace, but as soon as they were expelled, the magistrates began
to be the slaves of the people, and to oppress them with excessive taxes, and
thus the people were oppressed by means of magistrates, who were so ill-disposed
towards the people, that they began to oppress them without any cause whatever,
until they perceived that the people, being oppressed, were beginning to
conspire against them. The people, considering these things, and that the
magistrates had made war upon them, and that they were about to take away their
liberty, assembled themselves together, and, after having consulted together,
and determined that they ought to resist the power of the magistrates, they
assembled in the piazza of the Palazzo Pubblico, and, taking the oath to
